When I was younger, I had a boyfriend who had the most wonderful mother.
I kept in touch with her throughout the years. Every time I would visit Chicago she would more than likely get a visit from me.
The last few times I went to see her she was not well. She lives with one of her sons and he was being neglectful of her.
She had a rooster and birds that were allowed to roam freely through the house.
And she was suffering from onset dementia.
She used to have her own room. Now she was sleeping on the living room couch as her son had taken over her bedroom. Never mind that there are 3 bedrooms in the apartment. The other two were filled with junk piled high — clothes and everything else you can think of.
Last time I was there, she was shredding meat by hand in the living room. When the rooster would come over she would put the food down and pet her rooster. Then (without washing her hands) she would go back to preparing the meat.
Her son thought nothing was wrong with this.
The apartment reeked of bird feces as the carpet, walls and couch was filled with the feces.
You’d walk in and pray that you could breathe for more than 5 minutes.
She was now unkempt, smelled of urine and her home was no longer clean like she used to keep it.
Recently another son went to court to get custody of her so that he could make sure she was well taken care of. It was denied.
How heartbreaking this is. To live your life giving to others and then to have it end like this.
She hasn’t passed away yet. I can only hope that she is not able to recognize all that’s going on and that she is in no physical pain.
What a tragedy! We need more advocates for seniors. If I didn’t live so far away …
Life as it unfortunately is …
